Open hearth furnace roof



June 20, 1967 R. P. COPELAND OPEN HEARTH FURNACE ROOF Filed June 14, 1965 1N VENTOR.

Robe/f P Cope/am? A 7'TORNEY? United States Patent 3,326,151 OPEN HEARTH FURNACE ROOF Robert P. Copeland, Independence, Mo., assignor to Geo. P. Reintjes Co., Inc., Jackson, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed June 14, 1965, Ser. No. 463,483 9 Claims. (Cl. 110-99) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Structure for exerting a controlled reacting or opposing force upon the beams of a furnace roof in which the beams are pivoted at their outer ends, their inner ends being shiftably interconnected, the structure being carried by rigid overlying frame members and coupled to the inner ends of corresponding beams by a rod, the rod being secured to a plate shiftable in response to upward movement of the beams, shifting movement of the plate being opposed by a spring compressed thereagainst.

This invention relates to roofs for open hearth furnaces and, more particularly, to such a roof which has means associated therewith for exerting a reacting force upon the roof.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide, in combination with a furnace chamber which has spaced sidewalls and a roof, the roof comprising a sprung arch formed from a plurality of blocks, the arch spanning the furnace chamber and there being a plurality of spaced beams arranged in pairs transversely of the furnace, the inner ends of the beams being shiftably interconnected whereby to permit movement thereof upon expansion of the arch, structure for exerting a reacting spring force upon the inner ends of the beams whereby the upward lifting movement of the arch, due to expansion of the arch blocks, is opposed or retarded to the desired extent, all to the end that integrity of the arch may be maintained during use thereof.

It is a further important object of this invention to provide structure for exerting a reacting force upon a furnace roof, the structure including a rated coil spring, which coil spring is coupled with one end of a rod, the other end of the rod being secured to an inner end of an arch spanning beam, whereby the reacting force is directed against the beam and therethrough against the blocks comprising the furnace-spanning arch.

Yet another important aim is to provide structure wherein the coil spring is rated to exert a predetermined reacting or opposing force, there being means for compressing the spring whereby the force can be regulated or set to a predetermined point.

The present invention represents an improvement over that disclosed in my prior Patents Nos. 2,963,997 and 3,104,631 and is particularly intended for, but not limited to, use in connection with furnaces of the open hearth type wherein the arch is formed from a high-fired or direct bond basic brick, it being desirable in such furnaces to exert a controlled opposing force against the upward movement of the brick arch.

Other objects of my invention include details of construction which will become apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, transverse elevational view of the furnace roof and associated structure; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the forceexerting spring and its associated structure.

In the drawing there is shown roof structure of the type which is provided for an open hearth furnace, there being a chamber for the furnace defined by a pair of spaced sidewalls, the sidewalls including upstanding buckstays 10 which support transverse frame members 12, said frame members 12 spanning the furnace above the arch and supporting longitudinally extending frame members 14 which run the length of the furnace.

A sprung arch 16 spans the distance between the sidewalls of the furnace, the arch consisting of a plurality of bricks or blocks 18, the ends of the arch being supported by skewbacks 20 which are suitably supported by the sidewalls or buckstays 10. The bricks or blocks 18 which constitute the arch 16 are of the high-fired or direct bond type and include a casing 22 for each brick or block 18, the bricks 18 being supported by hangers 24 which suspend the brick 18 from supports such as 26 which transversely span the furnace in overlying relationship to the arch. The supports 26 are, in turn, suspended from longitudinal stringers 28, which stringers 28 are carried by arms 30.

The arms 30 are, in turn, suspended from a pair of beams 32 and 3-4, the pair of beams 32 and 34 spanning the arch 16 in overlying relationship thereto. The outer ends of each of the beams 32 and 34 are pivotally connected to the sidewall or buckstays of the furnace as by clips 36, and the inner ends of each pair of beams 32-34 are shiftably interconnected as by a slip plate 38 whereby to permit shifting movement of the beams with respect to one another.

The above described furnace roof structure is similar to that disclosed in Patents Nos. 2,963,997 and 3,104,631 and, as indicated in said patents, is designed to accommodate the shifting of the arch 16 due to the expansion of bricks or blocks 18 as the same are heated as a result of use of the furnace. In the prior patents the object has been to exert a controlled upward force on the beams such as 32 and 34 to accommodate the expansion of the arch 16. However, in the present invention it is desired to exert a controlled reacting or opposing force upon said beams 32 and 34 whereby to resist, to a predetermined extent, the upward movement of the arch 16 and thereby achieve a controlled retardation of such upward movement.

To accomplish this result there is provided structure, broadly designated as 40, for exerting a controlled reacting or opposing force on the inner ends of beams 32 and 34, it being understood that the roof of the furnace includes a plurality of such pairs of beams 32 and 34 spaced apart throughout the length of the furnace. However, since structure 40 is identical in the case of each beam and each pair of beams, only one such structure will be described in detail.

Structure 40 includes an elongated, vertically disposed rod 42, the rod having the normally lowermost end thereof secured to the inner end of its corresponding beam. This may be accomplished in any suitable manner and, in the form illustrated in the drawing, there is a bracket 44 connected to the inner end of beam 32, for instance, the lower end of rod 42 being threaded whereby to receive a nut 46 and thereby couple said lower end of rod 42 to the inner end of its corresponding beam 32. In the form of invention illustrated, and to couple rod 42 with beam 32, a stop nut 48 is threaded upon the lower end of rod 42 and is tightened to a point where his in immediate overlying engagement to a flange of beam 32, it being understood that beam 32 is normally in the nature of an I-beam whereby to have a pair of laterally extending flanges. As a result of the lower end of rod 42 being tightly secured to the inner end of beam 32, it will be appreciated that any shifting movement of beam 32 is transmitted upwardly through rod 42.

Disposed at the upper end of rod 42 is a resilient assembly, best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, said assembly including a first, horizontally disposed plate 50 to which rod 42 is welded or otherwise secured as at 51; a second, horizontally disposed plate 52 in overlying spaced relationship to said first plate 50, and a rated coil spring 54 disposed between said first and second plates, spring 54 surrounding rod 42 which extends upwardly therethrough and through plate 52 in order to maintain the desired alignment of said rod 42.

Plate 50 rests upon beam 14 but is not secured thereto, leaving plate 50 free for upward shifting movement when rod 42 is urged upwardly, rod 42 being secured to plate 50 at 51. A pair of bolts 56 are loosely carried in holes in beam 14 and extend upwardly from beam 14 and loosely through openings provided in plate 52. Nuts are provided on each end of the bolts 56, as shown, said nuts being adjustable to regulate the compression of spring 54 to thereby obtain the desired reactive or opposing force. Plate 52 is held in the position shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing as a result of compressed spring 54 acting thereagainst. An opening 57 is provided centrally of plate 52, rod 42 passing therethrough so that as rod 42 and plate 50 are shifted upwardly against the opposing force of Spring 54, plate 52 is retained in its initial position whereby to maintain the compression of spring 54.

Thus, it is seen that by utilization of structure 40 a controlled reacting force is created. This controlled reacting force is exerted by spring 54 in response to upward movement of the arch 16.

Thus, it will be appreciated that as the blocks or bricks 18 comprising arch 16 are heated and expand, they will tend to move upwardly, the entire arch tending to shift in an upward direction in a substantially uniform manner as the same is heated when the furnace is in use.

As the arch 16 shifts upwardly, casings 22 are moved in an upward direction and ultimately contact stringers 28. Inasmuch as stringers 28 are connected to their corresponding beams by arms 30, the upward force will be transmitted to beams 32 and 34 and, therefore, to plates 50 through rods 42. Inasmuch as the inner ends of said beams are shiftably interconnected, the beams themselves will swing upwardly about the pivotal interconnection thereof at their outer ends, such shifting movement being permitted by slip plate 38. As the beams 32 and 34 shift upwardly, the rod 42 is caused to be shifted in an upwardly direction by virtue of the same being coupled to a corresponding beam such as 32 and the provision of the stop nut 48. As the rod 42 is shifted upwardly it causes upward shifting movement of plate 50 to which it is secured. Resistance to upward movement of plate 50 is imparted by the spring 54, which spring exerts a reacting, opposing force upon the plate 50 inasmuch as the upper end of spring 54 is restrained by plate 52. Thus, upward movement of the entire arch will be opposed to the desired extent by the spring 54 inasmuch as the spring 54, acting through plate 50 and rod 42, reacts against the shifting upward movement of beam 32 imparted by the arch 16 as the same expands.

It will be appreciated that the amount of reacting or opposing force exerted by spring 54 in the manner above described may be controlled by use of a rated spring and by compression of the spring through adjustment or regulation of the nuts on bolts 56 to thereby adjust the spacing between plates 50 and 52, and, therefore, the compression of spring 54. In order to retain spring 54 in its position between plates 50 and 52 each of said plates carries an upstanding wall 58, the wall 58 on plate 52 embracing the normally uppermost convolution of spring 54, and the wall 58 on plate 50 embracing the normally lowermost convolution of said spring 54 whereby spring 54 is maintained in a vertical, aligned position between the plates 50 and 52 and in surrounding relationship to the rod 42.

Thus, there is provided structure for use in combination with an open hearth furnace roof, which structure permits the application of a controlled reacting or opposing force on the roof to retard, to the desired extent, the upward movement which is normally associated with a furnace roof. This type of structure is particularly useful for furnace roofs which are made from high-fired or direct bond basic brick, although the same may be used in connection with more conventional roofs. It should also be appreciated that the structure hereinabove described can be associated with furnace roof supports of the type described in the earlier patents mentioned above, and that only a slight modification of said roof supporting structure is necessary to accommodate the structure for exerting reacting force thereupon, all to the end that the existing roofs may be modified by inclusion of the above described structure.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a furnace chamber having spaced sidewalls, a roof comprising:

a sprung arch formed of a plurality of blocks supported by said walls;

a plurality of spaced beams arranged in pairs, each pair spanning the arch, each beam having its outer end pivotally connected to a sidewall and its inner end overlying the arch, the inner ends of each pair of beams being shiftably interconnected;

rigid frame members overlying said beams;

and structure carried by said frame members and coupled with said beams for exerting an opposing force on the beams as the latter shift upwardly.

2. The invention of Claim 1, said structure including a spring coupled to the inner ends of the beams.

3. The invention of claim 2, there being a spring corresponding to the inner end of each beam.

4. The invention of claim 3, each spring being coupled to its corresponding beam by a rod, said rods shifting with their beams.

5. The invention of claim 4, one end of each rod being attached to the inner end of its corresponding beam, the other end of each rod being secured to a first plate, said spring being compressed against said plate.

6. The invention of claim 5, there being a second plate compressing said spring against said first plate, said plates being spaced apart a predetermined distance whereby the opposing force is exerted on the corresponding beam.

7. The invention of claim 6, there being means for adjusting the distance between said two plates whereby to establish said desired opposing force.

8. The invention of claim 7, there being means carried by each of said plates for retaining the spring therebetween.

9. In combination with a furnace chamber having spaced sidewalls, a roof comprising:

a sprung arch formed of a plurality of blocks supported by said walls, a plurality of spaced beams arranged in pairs, each pair spanning the arch, each tbeam having its outer end pivotally connected to a sidewall and its inner end overlying the arch, the inner ends of each pair of beams being shiftably interconnected, rigid frame members overlying said beams, structure carried by said frame members for exerting a reacting force on said arch through said beams, said structure comprising a vertical rod corresponding to the inner end of each beam, each rod having the normally lowermost end thereof secured to the inner end of its corresponding beam;

at stop carried by each rod immediately above the beam whereby upward movement of the inner end of each beam is transmitted to its corresponding rod;

a horizontally disposed first plate secured to the rod intermediate the ends thereof;

a coil spring overlying said first plate and surrounding said rod;

a horizontally disposed second plate disposed above said first plate, said spring being compressed between said plates whereby to exert a predetermined reacting force on said first plate and therefore its corresponding beam; and

5 6 means for adjusting the distance between said plates 3,104,631 9/1963 Copeland n 110-99 whereby to regulate said reacting force. 3,212,466 10/1965 W e n 1 0-99 FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited 471,427 2/1929 Germany. UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 893,887 4/1962 Great Britain.

2,146,751 2/1939 Linder 11099 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, 111., Primary Examiner. 2,963,997 12/ 1960 Copeland et al 11099 ROBERT A, DUA, Examiner, 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A FURNACE CHAMBER HAVING SPACED SIDEWALLS, A ROOF COMPRISING: A SPRUNG ARCH FORMED OF A PLURALITY OF BLOCKS SUPPORTED BY SAID WALLS; A PLURALITY OF SPACED BEAMS ARRANGED IN PAIRS, EACH PAIR SPANNING THE ARCH, EACH BEAM HAVING ITS OUTER END PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO A SIDEWALL AND ITS INNER END OVERLYING THE ARCH, THE INNER ENDS OF EACH PAIR OF BEAMS BEING SHIFTABLY INTERCONNECTED; RIGID FRAME MEMBERS OVERLYING SAID BEAMS; AND STRUCTURE CARRIED BY SAID FRAME MEMBERS AND COUPLED WITH SAID BEAMS FOR EXERTING AN OPPOSING FORCE ON THE BEAM AS THE LATTER SHIFT UPWARDLY. 